John Huff/Staff photographer
Jeff Chase, left, and Mark Pilgrim hold a wreath for a service held by the South Berwick VFW Post 5744 Friday morning at the South Berwick boat launch in remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — A small group of residents braved the early morning cold Friday to attend a Pearl Harbor remembrance service at the town's boat launch.

The 8 a.m. service, held by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5744, featured a gun salute, taps, and a wreath placement in the river.

Post Commander John Elwell began Friday's service by outlining the enormity of the losses America sustained during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack.

More than 2,400 Americans were killed and more than 1,100 were injured during the surprise attack — an assault which directly led to America's involvement in World War II.

One of those heroes, South Berwick native Roland Dagan, was in attendance Friday. Dagan was serving in the Army Air Corps at Hickam Field, an Air Force base adjacent to Pearl Harbor, when the first wave of Japanese fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes began their relentless assault on the area.

Dagan received shrapnel wounds during the attack on Pearl Harbor and was hospitalized for several weeks.

Dagan, 93, attended Friday's service with his wife, Althea. Elwell acknowledged Dagan's presence and the group paid a moment of respect to him during the service.

Following Elwell's opening remarks, Chaplain Bruce Brown discussed how the events of Pearl Harbor led to America's subsequent involvement in World War II.

“American's who were shaken by the Great Depression offered to fight,” he stated. As the world divided into Axis and Allied powers, World War II, Brown said, “would go on to be the deadliest and most widespread war in history.” More than 60 million people, or 2.5 percent of the world's population at the time, were killed during World War II.

The ceremony concluded with a gun salute and taps. A wreath was also placed into the Salmon Falls River at the conclusion of the service.

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John Huff/Staff photographer
South Berwick VFW Post 5744 Commander John Elwell salutes as a gun salute volley is fired in remembrance of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.